KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 ― Malaysians have been lured with the promise of high-paying jobs to become part of a so-called Macau Scam to swindle compatriots out of what is believed to be millions of ringgit, according to a report.

The international syndicate used the social media messaging app WeChat to entice locals with purported salaries of RM5,000 to RM7,000, before asking them to meet up in coffeeshops, local daily The Star reported.

These Malaysian recruits, who come from all over the country with passports in hand, will then discover that they would be trained and sent abroad to carry out the telephone scam.

The report added that federal police and Johor's Iskandar Puteri police had recently arrested 22 Malaysians and a foreigner aged, all between 17 and 40, and found a "training centre” at a few houses in Iskandar Puteri and Sri Alam.

The international syndicate's mastermind was believed to be a Taiwanese wanted by international police and was recently captured in a raid, The Star said.

Federal Commercial Crimes Investigations Department deputy director (intelligence and operations) Senior Asst Comm Mohd Sakri Arifin said those seeking employments should be cautious of well-paying job offers on social media.

"Nobody conducts job interviews for such high-paying jobs in coffeeshops,” he was quoted saying by The Star.

Mohd Sakri said those operating the Macau Scam undergo training to fraudulently pose as officers from the police, Bank Negara Malaysia and Customs Department and tell victims that they have been involved in criminal activities.

The victims would then be advised by the scammers to pay or move their money to other bank accounts to avoid their funds from being frozen.

The scammers are able to spoof the phone numbers of enforcement agencies by using Voice over Internet Protocol.

On July 13, national news agency Bernama reported Bukit Aman Commercial CID (Cyber and Multimedia Investigation) deputy director SAC Ahmad Nordin Ismail as saying that 363 cases using the Macau Scam tactic have been reported nationwide since this January with losses amounting to RM12.8 million.

He said 389 of such cases were reported nationwide last year with losses of over RM17.4 million.